"CORTEO," the new touring Cirque du Soleil extravaganza, is less about abstract weirdness than it is about paying homage to classic circus entertainment — not the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey variety but the Old World European clown variety.

At this point, we're used to blazing spectacle from the Canadian Cirque empire, and "Corteo" delivers on that score. But this is grand circus on a more human scale, and that's what sets "Corteo" apart from its Cirque brethren.

For 'Corteo,' Cirque sends in the clownsby CHRIS JONES for the Chicago Tribune

So Cirque is on a full-blown campaign to make sure you know that "Corteo" is nothing whatsoever like, say, "Saltimbanco" or "Nouvelle Experience" or any of the other Cirque shows that have enlivened Chicago summers for more than a decade.

"We wanted to put humans on stage this time," says Alison Crawford, the artistic director of "Corteo." The usual hip Cirque masked critters have been banished this time around.

I've seen pretty much every show Cirque ever has produced. And Daniele Finzi Pasca's superb "Corteo," the latest touring show, which has landed in Chicago this summer, is one of the very best of the tent shows. It might very well be the best, although for many people, the first Cirque show they see is the one for which they feel the most ongoing affection. Still, even for jaded Cirque veterans, there's something special about this show.

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